The history of Danish pastries as we know them, is quite an interesting story. Back in Denmark around 1850, the Danish Bakers Association went on strike, and the bakery owners needed to find a way to continue to satisfy the sweet tooth of their customers. As a result, Austrian bakers were brought to Denmark to work in place of the striking Danes. These Austrian bakers introduced the techniques of laminated dough, which resulted in the flaky, buttery layers that characterize Danish pastries today. Over time, Danish bakers adapted and refined these techniques, incorporating local ingredients and flavors, leading to the delightful variety of pastries enjoyed globally in most countries. There have been so many adaptations of this idea by many different cuisines. I loved Korean bakeries for example, full of delicious flaky pastries but with their unique flavour profiles added instead of something more traditional such as this recipe.
To be truly traditional as a Danish pastry, the dough needs to be yeasted, but in this instance we have cheated and used puff pastry, still laminated and buttery, but no yeast involved which does make the whole process hugely easier.
Having said that, if you are keen to learn real Danish pastry techniques, our Insider club has many recipes using proper Danish pastry and we show you how in easy to follow tutorial videos. So please join us for those if nothing else!
For the image and video you see we did not make our own puff pastry but rather did a little experiment. We used the West Aussie made Empire pastry and put it up against Borgs and Pampas, both common supermarket brands. Needless to say the Empire was a clear winner both in how it looked and tasted. I will find it difficult to go back to making my own to be honest. It is so gorgeous. (And how easy is it to have a roll or two in the freezer to use when the need strikes?)
Here are a few more puff pastry recipes for you to try out as well:
Mushroom Kale Pie with Spelt Puff Pastry
Lemon Cheesecake Puff with Berries
Orange Sugar and Cinnamon Danish Pastry Twists
Come join our FREE TRIAL on the Insider Club for more great recipes
The Lazy Sourdough Bakery course now baking.
The Whole Scoop Ice Cream course is churning now!
Need
- 1 Batch Puff Pastry or 2 sheets commercial puff pastry Recipe
- 1/2 Batch Dried Apricot Preserves Recipe
- 250 Grams sugar
- 70 Grams almonds
- 70 Grams shelled pistachios plus a few more for garnish
- 1/2 Teaspoon almond extract
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla bean paste BUY
- 20 Grams cornflour or cornstarch
- 20 Grams egg whites
- egg wash
- a few pink salt flakes for garnish BUY
Do
- 1
Make jam if you have not already done so. It must be cold.
- 2
Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.
- 3
Add almonds and pistachios and mill 20 sec/speed 7.
- 4
Add almond essence, vanilla, cornflour and egg white and blend 40 sec/speed 5.
- 5
Tip mixture out onto piece of baking paper, dusted with cornflour, wrap and set aside.
- 6
Preheat oven to 220°C and line a baking tray with paper.
- 7
Roll pastry into two sheets. Arrange pastry on prepared tray and spread the centre of both with jam. (Be generous now!)
- 8
Roll a piece of the marzipan and place down the centre of the pastry. Cut slashes into each side of the pastry sheet on the diagonal. Fold these over on top of the filling and tuck in the ends. It should look like a lattice of sorts.
- 9
Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with pistachios and a few salt flakes and cook for 17-20 minutes or until golden and smelling yummy!
- 10
Divine when warm or divine when cold!
More
Slice and eat, but please wait until the jam has cooled a little…it is hotter than the sun! (I know this, and have the blister to prove it!)
Served with
Tenina Holder is a wife, mother of five and grandmother of eight, who started cooking in the olden days before Thermomix was even a thing.
Tenina has become the premium go to source for all Thermomix expertise and of course fresh and easy recipes that work. Her cooking classes and foodie trips are sold out in literally hours, her cookbooks appear on the Australian best seller lists and her social reach is in the millions. Her Insider Club is the most fun you can have with a Thermomix and you really should join her! She believes chocolate, butter and salt are health foods. Her food positivity mantra is, eat everything, just not all at once!
